


“YOU DID WHAT?!”

by myloveiamthespeedofsound



Series: Wherever I Go (I'll Be Looking For You) [11]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-16
Updated: 2016-08-16
Packaged: 2018-08-09 05:08:53
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 978
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7787860
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/myloveiamthespeedofsound/pseuds/myloveiamthespeedofsound
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Based on a tumblr prompt - “YOU DID WHAT?!”</p>
            </blockquote>





	“YOU DID WHAT?!”

**Author's Note:**

> We all know by now I'm trash so no surprise here - set in fireman Steve AU.

_ YOU DID WHAT?!  _  Was what she  _ wanted  _ to say.  Was what her heart shouted the moment  _ I asked Sharon out  _ left Steve’s lips.  The initial, gut wrenching, reaction to what she had all but told him to do in the first place.   _ YOU DID WHAT?!  _  It screamed from the back of her mind,  _ ached _ to be spoken and thrown in his face.  Followed shortly by  _ why _ and a million other thoughts she didn’t know how to say.    


_ Can’t you tell that I’m completely and stupidly  in love with you.  All of you.  The way you never seem to have a clean shirt to your name, the way you love your kid more than  _ **_any damn thing_ ** _ in this world, the way you make me laugh when everything else in my life is completely falling apart, the way you make me want to be a better person, one who knows how to cook and who won’t set fire to their kitchen making a frozen pizza.  The way you look at me when you think I’m not looking, the way you make me  _ **_want_ ** _ again.  The way you cheat at Risk and think you’re getting away with it.  The way you insist on singing along, badly, to every song on the radio. _ _ The way you make me feel safe, the way everything has made so much more sense since the moment I met you.  _   
  
But she hadn’t told him that _.   _ Because she was an idiot.   An idiot who hated her own happiness and wanted to spend her days pining after her best friend and being jealous of tall, leggy, blondes named Sharon who probably hated bread and loved everything Pumpkin Spice.    
  
She steeled her expression into a smile.   _ Be happy _ .  “That’s great, Steve,” she said and prayed it didn’t come off with  _ too _ much fake enthusiasm.  “So you, what, asked me over here to brag?” she asked with a light jab of her elbow to his ribs.   _ Be happy.   _ She repeated it like a mantra.  Steve should be happy, he should have some nice girl to make him feel special.  He deserved that - and he deserved it in someone who would be a hell of a lot better of a girlfriend than she ever could.  If that happened to be Sharon -  _ Sharon, she’s an old friend; I almost asked out before I met my wife, she’s a lawyer now, divorced; we ran into each other at the store and she’s just moved back to the city  _ \- well, she’d deal.  Even if she would  _ hate every single minute of it _ . After all hadn’t she, when Steve had mentioned running into Sharon said nothing but  _ she seems nice, you should ask her for coffee. _  She couldn’t hold it against him that he had followed her shitty advice.

  
“Well… no…” Steve started and raked a hand through his short hair with a sheepish look.  “I was kind of hoping you could watch Sarah for a little while?  Bucky’s out and Sharon wanted to meet up right away,” he asked.  

  
“You’re going out on the date  _ now? _ ” Natasha asked and for the love of God she hoped her voice didn’t rise as much as she thought it did on that last part.     
  
Steve looked at her and held her gaze for a moment.  It was then that she noticed.  His face was freshly shaven, his shirt lacked the general rumpledness he usually had as a single Dad who worked terrible hours, his hair had product in it, and he wore the shoes she’d only seen him wear one other time - to Bucky’s little sister's’ wedding.   _ He was going on a date. _  And she wanted to puke.     


_ Tell him _ , she thought.  Just  _ tell him _ before it’s too late. Tell him before Sharon ends up being lovely and funny and amazing and someone he realized he can’t live without.   He held her gaze, almost expectantly.  Like  _ he knew _ and he  _ wanted her to say it _ .  She licked her lips and opened her mouth to speak.   
  
“Nat!” came Sarah’s excited cry as she bounded over to the front door and she wrapped her arms around Natasha’s leg.  Effectively killing whatever moment they might have been having.     


Natasha leaned down and picked up the girl, settled her on her hip and gave her a grin.   “Looks like you’re stuck with me tonight, Solnyshko.”  
  
Sarah grinned brightly at the idea and then looked at Steve.  “Daddy looks nice, doesn’t he?” she asked and wiggled out of Natasha’s grip.  “Can we dance?” she asked and when Natasha nodded she ran into her room to get the slippers and leotard Natasha had bought for her.    
  
“You do,” Natasha said after a moment when she looked back at Steve.  “Look nice,” she finished and smiled softly.  He _always_ looked nice, but he cleaned up well.   She reached a hand up and brushed a spot of lint off his shirt.  Her hand lingered and she dropped it when Steve cleared his throat.    
  
“I should…” he trailed off as he caught her eye.  “Go.”  They stood, a charged silence between them, and after a moment Steve turned to grab his wallet and keys.  “Call if you need anything,” he said and looked back to her as he started out the door.  “And thanks.  I owe you one,” he offered with a smile and then walked out of the apartment.   
  
Natasha shut the door behind him and let her head bang against it a few times.  “Stupid, stupid, stupid,” she muttered under her breath.  A buzz in her pocket pulled her attention and she grabbed her phone to see a message from Wanda.  
  
 _I need tequila.  Happy hour at Telegraph?  I’m buying._   
  
Natasha sighed and typed out a quick reply.    
  
 _Can’t, told Steve I’d watch Sarah for him while he went out on a date._ _  
_ _  
_A moment passed, her phone buzzed again.  
  
 __YOU DID WHAT?!  
  



End file.
